Dual Diagnosis Addiction Treatment

Dual Diagnosis Treatment Must Be Done The Right Way!

Mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, ADD, ADHD, bi-polar and schizophrenia, trigger substance abuse and may create various psychological conditions. Mental illness feeds substance abuse, and if the appropriate addiction treatment is not sought, it can result in a relapse. What this means is that people with mental health disorders have a tendency to abuse their prescriptions, alcohol, or illegal narcotics.

One study has shown that 47% of the people they worked with who had schizophrenia were also suffering from addiction at one point in their life. The study also concluded that patients with mental illness have a significantly greater chance of developing and addiction then those without any mental illness. Another study showed that 1/3 of the patients they surveyed abused drugs, alcohol, or both within the last six months before evaluation. Abusing any mind altering substance can trigger a relapse in mental health disorders and significantly increase the risk of long term damage to the brain and nervous tissue. Treating a dual diagnosis, both treatment of mental health and drug addiction at the same time, creates an ample opportunity for recovery. A dual diagnosis rehabilitation program is the most effective means for a full recovery to a healthy, addiction-free life.

Unfortunately, most substance abuse rehabilitation centers do not offer dual diagnosis services to those with serious mental illness. On the other hand, many psychiatric centers do not have the skills and expertise necessary to fully treat patients with substance abuse. In fact, research has shown that there very few rehabilitation centers that have the capacity to fully treat the complex needs patients with dual disorders have. Here at Insight, we understand co-occurring dual diagnosis disorders and the importance of treating them concurrently with substance abuse treatment as they tend to feed off each other. It is imperative for proper treatment of both mental health and addiction to integrate both treatments into the same cohesive program. Many rehabilitation centers will target specific symptoms and treat them separately. At Insight, we understand that treat the core of addiction and finding the root cause as well as proper mental health treatment is necessary in order to fully cure the patient of substance abuse while simultaneously reviving their mental health.

Psychiatric clinics are great for treating mental health patients and getting them back to living normal lives again. However, many times addicts are diagnosed for a mental illness while still using and this often breeds a misdiagnosis. Mental illness patients who are also substance abusers often yield false symptoms if the addiction isn’t being treated properly if at all. An appropriate bio-psychosocial and clinical assessment is the key to a proper diagnosis once one is free from their substances. At Insight we execute these tools with efficiency. Most importantly, we design a treatment plan around our client’s INDIVIDUAL needs. We understand that the proper path to full treatment involves a collaboration of decision making between the patient and the staff. Many rehabilitation centers have rigid programs and scheduling that may leave the patient feeling uninvolved in their treatment progress. Allowing input in the decision making process, grants the patient a more comfortable treatment program as well as more confidence and self-esteem. At Insight, we give our dual diagnosis patients the care and the addiction treatment they need in order to fully treat their complex needs. Don’t settle for less and let these addiction problems go unsolved.